Any interest among the astro team in playing in the Sport Against Racism Ireland annual soccer tournament?
I played in it before and it’s decent craic. You play a group stage and then go into a plate or cup of some sort and it takes place over 2 days in the Phoenix Park. Standard is mixed but nothing beyond us anyway - we’d be fairly middle of the road. Plenty of teams from Africa and Eastern Europe means there’s a clash of playing styles but we’ve always been more continental in our approach.
Games are on the 8th and 9th September and it’s EUR 25 a head.
I mean we’d be middle of the road in such exalted company.
Last time I played in it the Ivory Coast had some setup. They had a squad of maybe 25 guys even though it’s 6 a side. They were all in Ivory Coast tracksuits and the manager was in a suit with tie and everything. He had a clipboard in his hand and he paced the sideline shouting orders and he had 4 or 5 in his backroom staff suggesting stuff to him regarding switches and whatever.
We played them in the second round and they were unbelievably bad. It was hilarious how crap they were given all the effort they’d gone to.
It’s a weekend affair. Games on Sat - you get given a time and play 3 group games within 90 minutes or so. Then you come back on the Sunday and it’s knockout as far as I remember.